About Jesus     Steve Sweetman

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Divorce Laws

In Matt. 19:1-12 Jesus comments on what the Law says concerning divorce. He told the Pharisees that God placed divorce legislation into the Law because of the hardness of their hearts, but this was not God’s intention from the beginning. These rules were actually a concession on God’s part, yet behind this concession was God’s desire for men and woman to love one another for life as He Himself loves.

By saying the divorce laws were a concession, you might say that Jesus is implying that these laws were temporary because they represent only a part of God’s heart on these matters. The Law says "you can divorce", but God never wanted such a law in the first place. In fact, you might say that the whole Law of Moses is a concession due to our sin. Thus the New Testament’s approach to Law and sin is different than the Old Testament’s approach. So we interpret the Law in this New Testament respect. I will now turn to a practical implication of what I’ve been saying.

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